Beets for Athletic Performance: The Purple Powered Vegetable

If you're curious about beet juice and athletic performance, you're not alone. Athletes from endurance runners to weekend cyclists are tapping into beet juice’s power to boost oxygen use, improve stamina, and speed recovery. Here's why. 

How Beet Juice Enhances Athletic Performance

Beetroot juice is rich in dietary nitrates, which are compounds converted into nitric oxide (NO) in your body. NO expands blood vessels, enhances blood and oxygen flow, reduces the oxygen cost of exercise, and supports energy efficiency during aerobic activity. 

For example, cyclists completing a 50-mile ride improved performance by 0.8%, with better oxygen efficiency in the final miles. Trained runners also clocked around 5% faster splits in the later stages of a 5k after consuming beet juice 90 minutes prior. 

Even recreational exercisers benefit. After just six days of beet juice, cyclists extended high-intensity efforts and kayakers saw 1.7% performance gains in time trials. 

Beetroot Juice and Sports Performance vs. Supplements

Beetroot juice doesn’t just supply nitrate. It also delivers antioxidants and polyphenols such as betalains that may amplify performance beyond what isolated nitrate supplements offer. Research suggests beet juice could be more effective during exercise than equivalent nitrate salts. 

Beets for Blood Flow and Oxygen Delivery

Improved vascular function is at work behind the scenes. Beet juice boosts nitric oxide, which lowers blood pressure and may even relax stiff vessels, easing cardiovascular load. A Wake Forest study also found beet juice increased blood flow to the brain in older adults post-exercise. 

Beet juice is now among a select group of performance-enhancing supplements with strong evidence backing, including caffeine and creatine. 

Dosage and Timing: Getting the Most from Beetroot Juice

For meaningful effects, research points to a dose of 8–16 mmol of nitrates (around 500–1000 mg) taken 2–3 hours before exercise. Immediate benefits seen within a single session; best results occur after sustained use across several days. 

Beet Juice for Runners and Endurance Athletes

The data is compelling for sustained efforts like 5Ks to ultramarathons. Beet juice improves oxygen efficiency, reduces effort, and enhances time-to-exhaustion under aerobic loads. While high-intensity, short bursts need more research, there’s early evidence that beet juice supports repeated max efforts by improving phosphocreatine recovery and muscle power. 

Why We Love It: Neve’s Boysenberry Beet Smoothie

At Neve, our Boysenberry Beet smoothie pouch was crafted with intentional nutrition in mind and alongside a registered dietitian. It delivers the benefits of beet juice for blood flow, oxygen efficiency, and endurance in a portable, convenient format, alongside functional plant-based ingredients.

Each pouch features whole-food electrolytes and carbohydrates, offering clean, sustained energy without added sugars. It’s a thoughtfully formulated way to include the ergogenic power of beets in the mountains, on a trail run, or the daily grind. Try Boysenberry Beet today!

Try Beet Juice If You’re:

• Preparing for 1K to 10K events, cycling longer miles, or pushing VO₂max workouts
• Seeking natural support for blood flow, fatigue resistance, and recovery
• Looking for clean, athlete-focused nutrition in a convenient pouch
• Or because you're just a mega fan of the purple drink!

References

• Tian et al., Effects of Beetroot Juice on Physical Performance (Umbrella Review) MDPI
• Verywell Fit, How Beet Juice Improves Athletic Performance Verywell Fit
• Cleveland Clinic, Beetroot Powder Performance Benefits Cleveland Clinic
• Frontiers, Beetroot Juice vs Nitrate Salt Supplementation Frontiers
• PSUSports, Beet Juice’s Vascular Effects Penn State
• Wake Forest, Beet Juice on Brain Blood Flow Wake Forest News
• JISSN, Beetroot Juice Classification as Ergogenic Aid BioMed Central
• Vogue, Beets for Athletic Endurance Vogue